Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers (a sort of review)
3 Sep 2008
This is my favourite album. Well, it's in the top two, alternating with Tim Buckley's Starsailor, which is number one when I'm in an experimental mood. I've got Sister Lovers in three copies, two of which are vinyl semibootlegs (no edition had been authorized before the official Rykodisc CD edition). My CD version even has Alex Chilton's autograph, or something he scribbled on it with a pen, to be more precise.
Funny thing, while half of the songwriters in the world would love to have written such a collection of songs, Alex Chilton refuses to play any songs from this one. We play Oh Dana from this record live, and when (after an Italian concert he did) I asked Alex if he could tell me a couple of lines which are unintelligible on record, he kindly refused to do it by saying something like 'those lyrics are not worth knowing'. Well, I'll keep warbling through the words then. WTF!
Anyway, this album is one of the perfect albums in music history. If you consider the sequence on the Rykodisc edition, the list of 'official' songs that ends with Take Care doesn't contain a dull one. In my opinion, one of the less convincing ones is Kizza Me, the first song on the record. After that it keeps building and building until the (various) climaxes in the top songs. Which are many.
What has always struck me of this record is the level of confidence in the songwriting. It is interesting to know that Chilton now claims in interviews that he considers himself a performer and a singer, more than a songwriter. Well, anyone capable of writing perfect power pop gems like Jesus Christ or Stroke it Noel should be considered a master of the craft. The rhythm/phrasing of the verses in 'Stroke It Noel' ('They say we're lazy men / Drinkin' our white wine / We could go right insane / 'Cause we can buy the time') is just stunning in the way it flows effortlessly.
I've read articles by people who feel disappointed by this record, claiming that it is too dark in tone, especially if compared to the first two. I personally think it is an evolution of the darker stuff one can find in Radio City, What's going ahn for example. Some complain about the strange way songs stop and start without reason. Well, I feel that Big Black Car's stops build tension and make the song breathe. I think it's one of the best road songs I've heard, in the way it recreates the atmosphere of driving at night with no care or destination.
I particularly love Take Care's lyrics. 'Take care not to hurt yourself / beware of the need for help / you might need too much / and people are such...' It might sound cynical (and probably it is), but in its musical context it also sounds sort of tender, as if Alex cared for the listener. Maybe he did. Sometimes you doubt it nowadays.